The Death of A Vision the Hope of A Calling

Did you hear, a vision died today? What happened? Was it murdered, did it die a natural death, or was it aborted? Who was to blame? How did it happen? How many lives were affected? What will the people do now?

These seem like odd questions to ask about the death of a vision, but they are asked each time a Christian ministry, church or ministry program that sprang from God's heart dies. It might be helpful if we defined vision here as,' the hoped for outcome or expression of a current plan to fulfill the calling God has placed in a person or group of people to accomplish God’s work on the earth.

It could be said that these visions for ministry spring from a person's calling just as children do from their parents. It could also be said that the death of a vision causes the same emotional grieving process to take place that the death of a person might bring. This is true because visions for ministry are born out of our calling from God and thus are a creation of His work in us and through us.

You may have felt this grief or seen it others when they are seeking to blame someone for the pain felt when a vision ceases to exist or when the person who was instrumental for the vision moves on or passed away. We must learn that the death of one vision for ministry or the person instrumental for the vision is not the doorway to hopelessness and despair. The same God who created us in His image also creates in us fresh vision for accomplishing the same calling in new ways and sometimes in new places.

If God has called you to be a teacher it does not matter what your current ministry or job title is, you will seek and find a new way or vision to teach those God has placed around you. In Genesis 3:26 it says that we were created in God's image or likeness. One of the qualities of this likeness is that people are designed to create. This is more than the creation of physical life. Our gifts, talents, education and background cause each of us to have a different set of materials to draw from as God works His creative miracle though us to create new visions for ministry, which spring from the calling of God activating us to fulfill His call in our lives.

Walking through the death of a vision is a painful thing. Our relationship to a vision for ministry is much like a relationship with a person. The closer and more committed we are to the vision the greater the potential for deep grief and all its symptoms when the vision dies.

We must remember that God who has called us and who is responsible for our visions for ministry is the God of hope and that he will create in us a new vision or way to accomplish the calling he has placed in us. We must look to the author and finisher of our faith for fresh visions to carry out our calling for from His calling springs our hope. Hebrews 12:2.